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Eletions for the next President are still three months away and leaders of the two main parties, the Congress and the BJP, are yet to sit across the table and discuss possible names for the next occupant of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

But in the corridors of power and stately bungalows of Lutyen’s Delhi, the names of as many as 14 candidates, many of them inconsequential, are already doing the rounds.

Leading the way in throwing up names of potential candidates are smaller political formations and ever-eager lobbyists. They are already trying to push their nominees.Even the US seems to be keeping a close eye. On Monday, US Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Acting Ambassador Peter Burleigh met senior BJP leader L.K Advani and discussed, among other things, the upcoming Presidential elections.

Analysts attribute this to the declining clout of the Congress. The drubbing the party faced in the recent state elections, and its consequent decline in numbers in the Rajya Sabha, means the ruling Congress does not have the numbers to get its candidate elected. Regional parties have emerged stronger in many states.
As a result, a surprise candidate may make it to Rashtrapati Bhavan in July, political observers said.Among the names doing the rounds are: Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A.K Antony, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, former West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, senior Congress leader Karan Singh, former President APJ Abdul Kalam, former speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Chief Election Commissioner S.Y Quraishi, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, senior Congress leader Mohsina Kidwai and Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav.

Despite Sonia Gandhi’s categorical statement that there is no question of replacing Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister before 2014, some in the party still do not rule out the possibility. Finding a suitable candidate for Rashtrapati Bhavan is proving to be a headache for the Congress. Pranab Mukherjee is probably the party’s best bet and perhaps deserves a promotion. But the Congress may not spare the only troubleshooter it has.

Some party leaders, especially the Kerala lobby, want to see A.K Antony at Raisina Hill. Their argument is that so far, the country has had only a Hindu, Muslim or a Sikh as the President. The late P.C Alexander, a former principal secretary to Indira Gandhi, had tried to get the BJP and the Shiv Sena’s support but Abdul Kalam pipped him to the post. Antony, though a Gandhi family loyalist, does not enjoy the support of other Congress leaders and Christians (unlike Muslims) do not constitute a major vote bank in the country.

Among the hopefuls, the Vice-President, a career diplomat, appears to have an edge. Left and regional parties are expected to back him. Gopal Krishna Gandhi, youngest grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, has a vast administrative experience. He also has the backing of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. If the Left and the Congress overlook politics and root for him, he could emerge as the consensus candidate.

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Karan Singh is a perennial presidential hopeful.But Singh does not have powerful backers. Whoever the candidate may be, the Congress needs the backing of all its allies and supporting parties to get its nominee installed at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Keeping this in mind, it has already started wooing even non-UPA leaders like Tamil Nadu chief minister J.Jayalalithaa and her Bihar and Uttar Pradesh counterparts Nitish Kumar and Akhilesh Yadav. And the man the Congress has selected to win over regional leaders is union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh.

On Saturday, Jairam flew to Lucknow to review development projects with Akhilesh. On Sunday, he met Nitish Kumar to review implementation of central flagship programmes. Last Thursday, he wrote to Jayalalithaa offering an additional grant of over Rs.93 crore to her government under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme. He is expected to meet her sometime next week.